Pace still vital in Chennai Test: Rixon

Date: February 09 2013

Greg Buckle

Australia's acting head coach Steve Rixon has cautioned his side against expecting a "spinning cobra" in Chennai and says pace remains a massive weapon to take into battle against India in the first Test on February 22.

An eight-man squad trained at the Test venue Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.

Australia's opening warm-up game starts on Tuesday against an Indian Board President's XI at Chennai's Guru Nanak College Ground, with a bare 11 likely to be available including 19-year-old Western Australia spinner Ashton Agar who's heading over during the weekend to act as a net bowler.

Reinforcements, including skipper Michael Clarke and vice-captain Shane Watson plus left-arm quick Mitchell Starc, are due in Chennai in the next few days but are likely to skip the opening two-day clash.

Rixon's experience as assistant coach of two-time Indian Premier League T20 winners the Chennai Super Kings means he's well-placed to guide the squad through their early preparations before national coach Mickey Arthur joins the squad.

"We're going to have the bare essentials for the two-day game and that's okay," Rixon told AAP.

"I don't personally think we're going to get the big ragging turners that everyone thinks we're going to get over here.

"I've seen Chennai in the past. It turns, but it doesn't rag. There's a big difference.

"Spinning cobras is one thing but the ball just turning, especially Pragyan Ojha and (Ravi) Ashwin, they're pretty traditional spinners."

The former Test gloveman and ex-New Zealand coach says India's spinners can be beaten, but scoring freely is vital.

"There's no point occupying time against these sorts of bowlers," Rixon said.

Rixon says Australia's selectors need to be aware of the touring team's reliance on pace.

"(That's) one thing we keep forgetting about," Rixon said.

"We talk about swinging the ball up front and reverse-swing during the game is very important.

"But having tall bowlers hitting the deck hard at 145 (km/h) is equally as hard for any Asian player to combat as it would be for our guys to combat their spin bowling."

Rixon says the success of former Australian Test quick Doug Bollinger for the Super Kings shows how it can be done on pitches offering variable bounce.

"We're going to have a distinct advantage with our quick bowlers," Rixon said.

"Our quick bowlers will play a part and it will be the fact that they hit the deck hard - whether (selectors) have a leaning towards your spinners, which I'm thinking is going away from our strength.

"But I don't make that decision. Our quicks have put us where we are.

"In these conditions, we shouldn't ignore that.

"Just because you're playing in different conditions, your strength is still your strength."